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2012 East Coast Surfing Championships: Day 3

Jeffrey Myers here reporting to you live from the 50th annual ECSC ASP six star gathering presented by Vans!

Wow.

Today was a fairly incredible one.

For one it did not hurt to breathe today as I was no longer in a fist fight with the headache and nausea that comes with over consuming those bastard “Orange Crushes” that had me inhumanly hangover like the day prior…

The surf came up slightly allowing these guys to step up their surfing game which lead to some nail biting action packed heats running until days end.

And then there was the “Vendors Village,” which could of easily doubled for the set of Dateline NBC’s “how to catch a predator”… Heaps upon heaps of underage girls wearing scantily clad bikinis, enough freebie product to open your own personal surfing warehouse, the beer garden was wide open with a soundtrack provided by live music under cloudy skies and a refreshing northeast breeze.

A walk through the “Vendors Village” was similar to that of a panic attack, loud sounds coming from every direction, a slight lack of oxygen intake, claustrophobia with a subtle hint of personal space invasion. Those fifteen minutes resembled that of a real life video game, in which I certainly did not place the high score. I do believe I will not be setting foot in there for the remainder of my visit, more giveaways for the children and greedy parents I suppose!

As for yesterdays daily oddities I reported on prior, I caught wind the bmx’er is still in a coma from his plummet…saddening news indeed.

Wild Bill remains intoxicated, and Rex is most definitely still living on the edge!

As for today’s oddities?

Two words: Schooner Inn. Think about it…

Tonight should be another grand one; Transworld Surf will be hosting a party at our beloved local watering establishment “Waterman’s” where they will be screening their highly anticipated new film “Let’s Surf Seriously,” who knows perhaps i will try one or fourteen of these “Orange Crushes” everyone has been raving about…

By sunrise I am sure I will have a tall tale or two to report back to you, trimming the fluff and keeping these tales PG of course!

As for the competition on Friday, it was far more exciting than yesterday with a few of the event dark horses pulling through as well as a handful of this events possible favorites left rescheduling their flights and packing their bags in hopes of better results in one of the many future events they will be grinding out this year on the WQS.

The surf today remained a wee bit sloppy although it did provide a few rippable walls that were connecting all the way through to the inside with a fairly inviting air wind through both of today’s tides. In the dark horse corner the likes of Michael Powell, Evan Thompson, Noah Schweizer, Cody Thompson, Brett Barley and Phillip Goold kept the ball rolling through the round of 96.

All hailing from the east coast these boys seemed to shine in the less than stellar conditions taking out the more experienced fellow competitors from Brazil, Australia, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico and Hawaii. Early round upsets included Andrew Doheny, Corey Lopez, Cooper Chapman, Caio Ibelli, Hank Gaskell and Chase Wilson.

This was no walk in the park for the dark horses as most every heat the exchanges had first through fourth shuffling until the twenty-five minute buzzer sounded. As we entered into the first six rounds of the round of 48 even heavier upsets took place with the likes of Nat Young, Kia Barger, Dillon Perillo, Gabe Kling, Brian Toth and Evan Geiselman all exiting the competition!

East Coast boys Michael Dunphy and Jeremy Johnston showed brilliance both winning their round of 48 heats each posting 9’s further advancing them into this brutally competitive competition. The most exciting heat of the day went to heat four in the round of 48 where Matt Pagan, Kalani David, Jean Da Silva and Jack Freestone went to battle in the most consistent twenty five minute heat for waves all throwing up big airs, lengthy combinations and last minute heroics making for a true nail bitter up to the buzzers end!

The forecast is looking a little windier for tomorrow with an additional foot or so in size, this should no doubt make for a couple more banger heats to note as I will be reporting back to you as the sun sets in this reckless little town of Virginia Beach…

I am signing out of webland and into the bar my mates, thanks for making time for this read!

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia/USA (Friday, August 24, 2012) – The 50th annual Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Coastal Edge ECSC presented by Vans and hydrated by vitamin water returned to 1St Street Jetty for the completion of Round 2 and the first half of Round 3. Today’s highlight’s saw the event’s top performers sink their teeth in to the building two-to-three foot swell to post the event’s highest scores.

Jeremy Johnston (New Smyrna Beach, FL), 26, tore in to two wedgy right-handers on his backhand to deliver the highest scores of Coastal Edge ECSC pres. by Vans competition while delivering the upset of the event, eliminating top seed Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA), 21. Johnston opened with a 9.57 for three seamless power turns and backed his ride up with an additional excellent score to attain a 17.30 out of 20 heat total. “It’s good to be on the East Coast and feel real comfortable,” Johnston said. “You know what needs to be done and I’ve won in this kind of stuff in the past so I’m just doing what I’ve done before and sticking to my game plan.”

Johnston, a prior ECSC champion, feels at home in the 1st Street Jetty lineup and hopes his experience will carry him to a top result in 2012. “I won out here two years ago, in 2010, and I feel comfortable out here,” Johnston said. “I’m familiar with the wave and it’s hard on the East Coast because you need to find those waves that chip shot you. This will be a big result for me, so we’ll see what this does for my year.”

Michael Dunphy (Virginia Beach, VA), 22, utilized his local knowledge to take a commanding Round 3 victory. The East Coast talent also took to the rights in his successful campaign and unloaded a 9.10 single-wave score while leaving his fellow competitors in need of a combination situation for the win. “I saw Filipe (Toledo) get an 8 to start before so I knew the peak by the jetty would be good with the tide being a little bit lower,” Dunphy said. “I got that 6 and got in rhythm and it helped to have a good start.”

Jack Freestone (Coolangatta, AUS), 20, posted the top scores in Round 2 yesterday and returned to form today as the top scoring international competitor. The former ASP World Junior Champion coupled his powerful turns and massive airs to earn a 16.93 heat total and a convincing Round 3 win. “I was just trying to get the best waves,” Freestone said. “Out there, you kind of need to be patient. You can’t take every wave because a set will come through every now and then, so that’s what I was trying to do.”

Tanner Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), 24, was one West Coaster to shine in Virginia Beach. Gudauskas was another goofy-footer who proved to be deadly on his backhand today and the California powerhouse looked at home at 1st Street Jetty during his first trip to Virginia Beach. “I had fun, there are a few lefts, but the rights are super fun too,” Gudauskas said. “Virginia Beach is insane. It’s like the US Open, but it’s East Coast style.”

About ASP: The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the recognized world governing body of professional surfing and has been crowning surfing’s undisputed World Champions since 1976. The ASP sanctions and crowns World Champions for the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, ASP World Junior Tour, ASP World Longboard and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world’s best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts and other media platforms. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Japan, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.